WALL STREET GOES TO QUANTICO

EXECUTIVE MEMO

Wall Street Goes To Quantico

t might seem like the worlds of Wall Street and the U.S. Marine Corps have little in common. But a small group of professionals from both careers have recently gone out of their way to walk in each other's boots and wingtips.

Last December, the Marines tested life in the New York Mercantile Exchange's chaotic trading pits. "It was exactly what they thought it would be: chaotic, unrelenting and stressful," says Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper, the commanding general for Quantico's combat development command.

Then in April, the traders flew down to the Marine base at Quantico, Va., for a weekend in which they donned camouflage, flak jackets and helmets, were rousted out of bed by a drill instructor at 5 a.m., and took part in war games using live ammunition.

The reason for the cooperation is straightforward: Both jobs require instantaneous decision-making based on bombardments of information from every direction. Eric Plateis, 36, a silver trader, said the job similarities created "a tremendous amount of camaraderie" between the Marines and the traders.

During an early phase of the Quantico exercises, the traders watched the Marines perform a war game exercise in a field communications center, whose whirlwind of activity bore a close resemblance to the trading pits. "It's the same sort of analysis of information-risk analysis," says Daniel Rappaport, the exchange's chairman and chief executive officer. "There's a need to sort out which of the information is relevant, which of it is significant, and which of it is accurate."

After a tasty lunch of MREs ("meals ready to eat"), the traders joined their Marine counterparts in braving a hail of real grenades and machine gun fire to capture an "enemy" post. Col. James Conway, who oversaw the exercise, prepared his troops-experienced and novice-by telling them, "We want you to smell the cordite and gunpowder, but we also want to keep you safe." Traders who took part said afterward that both missions were carried out without a hitch.